Colo. riot draws condemnation from university officials

Apr. 28, 2013
|

Xavier Farley gathers small pieces of glass from the street on Sunday, April 28, 2013, as he helps clean up the last remnants of a party in the Summerhill neighborhood of Fort Collins, Colo. Farley, who is a Colorado State University student and a resident of the neighborhood, said that at first the party was fun, but it got scary when people started lashing out at the police and climbing poles and cars. Behind Farley, Tracy Kelley and her sons, Caden and Cayce, helped clean up although they do not live in the area and were not at the party. / Dawn Madura, Fort Collins Coloradoan

by Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY

by Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- Colorado State University and Fort Collins police are investigating after hundreds of students clashed with riot police Saturday night as officers used tear gas and pepper spray to break up a wild party near the university campus.

On Sunday morning, debris littered the street and the smell of beer hung over the densely populated Summerhill neighborhood.

Fort Collins police said they shut down several parties earlier in the evening but were called back around 9 p.m. after neighbors complained for a second time about hundreds of partygoers out in the street.

The party organizers had registered their party with Colorado State University and the city, as recommended, but the event drew far more attendees than officials anticipated. Registering a party means police will call the organizer before coming to shut it down. A second complaint, however, draws a stiff response from police.

"We were going through telling people party's over, time to go, and we got a lot of cooperation until ... we shut the music off. That completely turned the crowd," said Capt. Jerry Schiager of the Fort Collins police early Sunday morning. "They started chanting 'f the police' and basically pushed the cops back down the street."

Schiager said officers withdrew, donned riot gear and re-entered the neighborhood. Police first rolled exploding rubber balls at the crowd's front row, and then fired pepper balls and set off pepper spray and tear gas. The officers eventually dispersed the crowd around 10:30 p.m. Officers reported having rocks and bottles thrown at them.

"It was a little scary, the aggressive nature of that core group," Schiager said.

Partygoers leaving the area said the party had been advertised via Facebook all week long and drew hundreds of revelers who were drinking and chanting the CSU fight song as well as anti-University of Colorado slogans.

Three people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, police said. No officers were injured in the clash, which left the street littered with broken bottles.

Portia Cook, 23, said the party was "right outside our front door." Cook lives in the neighborhood with her 4-month-old daughter, her mother and a 6-year-old sister.

She watched from her window as partiers broke car windows, chanted at the police and became increasingly violent toward authority. Some even tried to get into her home, she said.

"Hundreds of students were going towards cops, retaliating, throwing beer cans and bottles at them," she said. "If my door had been unlocked, those people would have been in my house with our kids. ... That's not OK at all. It was really, really scary."

Several students who asked not to be identified described the party as out of control and "crazy," with revelers climbing light poles and trees, and glass bottles flying. After police fired the tear gas and pepper spray, hundreds of partiers dispersed back into surrounding neighborhoods, many of them rubbing their eyes and complaining about what they saw as an overreaction of authorities.

Schiager said police will review video of the incident to see whether they can identify the most aggressive members of the crowd, who could face charges of inciting a riot. That's a criminal charge, but any CSU student convicted of that crime also would probably be expelled.

CSU's dean of students Jody Donovan, said the university will work with Fort Collins police but also has investigation. She said university officials will work with students to help them understand that this kind of thing "is not OK."

University officials say students who may have participated are not representative of the university, but acknowledge the incident reflects poorly on CSU.

"When we determine if students were involved, those students will be held accountable," Donovan said. "These students made bad choices. That's not what we stand for. This kind of behavior is not representative of Colorado State."

A 2002 state law gives Colorado police significant powers to shut down riots. It also means any student convicted of inciting or engaging in a riot is barred from attending any state-supported university for a year. Police can declare riot conditions whenever there's a large public disturbance that either creates a danger or damage to people or property.